I got this email from trusted persone known to me, they contacted Vodaphone and this is the reply they received;

"I called Vodafone again today as their Recharge Services are down for a second day Australia Wide.

Vodafone have informed me this morning that all calls from a Vodafone service that has little or no credit cannot recharge and all calls are free nationwide for a second day from your Vodafone Mobile."

(I may add that I am not with Vodaphone, I am with Telestra Next G and am happy with that coverage).

-- Edited by Vic on Friday 18th of February 2011 11:32:25 AM

That might make up for Vodaphone dropping out during the floods in Brisbane.

I couldn't contact 2 of my 3 adult children because of it. Needless to say, they changed to Next G afterwards. One also had vodaphone for her laptop. Changed to Telstra's toggle goggle woggle....whatever it's called..and was amazed at the difference.

Good move Beth, Telstra coverage is better than Optus as well, for wireless laptop Telstra are best too, I think that might be a "dongle" you were trying to think of......sounds "male" doesn't it? lol !

I am not trying to plug Telstra, but definitley the best for long range travel (unless you can afford sattelite phones etc) but even then does not cover the whole of Oz, but the best of the crop.

As an example I was at a bush camp in the South West, people with Vodaphone and Optus were walking around like chooks with their heads cut off trying to find a high spot to use their phones (did not work there either) while I was happily inside my van without an external antenna talking on my Telstra phone without any problems. Had to lend my phone to a couple so they could touch base with their family. If anyone buys a Telstra plan phone (or prepaid) just make sure it is suitable for country areas.


-- Edited by Vic on Friday 18th of February 2011 05:24:47 PM

That's it! I was close then!

Yes, I've had a Next G mobile for awhile and found it great for rural areas. I too was out bush in the middle of woop woop at a family reunion, and lots of the city slickers were caught out. My sister and I were the only one's..other than my country cousins...who had network.

Now I'm looking at replacing my tired old PC with a laptop and I'll be getting a "dongle" too. Bit of a nuisance though, I'm currently on an Optus Plan for broadband and landline.

Beth,
Someone showed me a new product from Telstra that is similar to the Apple I Pod, it does just about everything, smaller than a laptop but has many functions and seems it would be ideal for anyone travelling with limited storage space etc, it is called the T - Touch Tab, see this link;

http://www.telstra.com.au/bigpond-internet/mobile-broadband/mobile-tablets/telstra-t-touch-tab/?s_kwcid=TC|13331|telstra%20t%20touch%20tab||S||7442992060 
 



-- Edited by Vic on Friday 18th of February 2011 07:26:33 PM

Like many others I changed from Optus to next G and found I had a much better coverage was able to get out in most places that we were at Helena.

No worries Beth, amazing how the youngies know a lot more than we do with all this high tech stuff (well a bit bamboozing for us older generations).

Glad you made the change Helena, agree with you totally!

Vic wrote:

---

No worries Beth, amazing how the youngies know a lot more than we do with all this high tech stuff (well a bit bamboozing for us older generations).

Glad you made the change Helena, agree with you totally!

---

I should have included my daughter in that. She got back to me quickly. She said 'no, go with the laptop. You won't be sorry'. More money, but sometimes cheap isn't the best way to go.

Yes it's bamboozling alright! I think I do pretty well with my knowledge, but there's always something new coming out, always more to learn.

 

telstra ,even tho people love to hate them , do have the best in reception in rural areas.. when i was in kimba , my mobile phone wouldnt work with optus but my next g usb dongle did on my laptop.. when picking your laptops ,think about what you want to use it for, like when you pick your camper van etc i have 2 laptops and a netbook and an ipod and an ipod touch...( i love tech stuff) my new laptop is a quadcore i7 hp and my old laptop is a toshiba L300 , both have there things that i do with them etc pcs are great for at home but laptops are the way to go when away... now days theres so much choice out there , you can use your laptop as a dvd player, music player, and internet, and even as a tv via usb... have fun...

Thanks Milo.

I think I've narrowed it down to a Toshiba. Now just trying to find the most bells and whistles for my bucks!